


The Eye of the Storm

by stopwatch_plz (immiscibility)



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1001831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immiscibility/pseuds/stopwatch_plz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Koumei really wondered if he had inherited the sum total of the Ren family common sense, as he made his way down the path to where he was pretty sure his dubious prize was hiding...</p><p>Young!Judal fic (he is around 14 here)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Eye of the Storm

Koumei walked out into the walled garden and sighed inwardly. His visits here were usually peaceful and relaxing, especially at this time of the year when flowers were beginning to bud, showing the promise of the summer to come and the sun was just starting to gain some warmth - but then again, he wasn’t usually in the garden to chase after an errant young magi who had, yet again, managed to destroy his older brother’s meticulously-made plans by being the spoiled brat he was. Sometimes he really wondered if he had inherited the sum total of the Ren family common sense, and muttered to himself as he made his way down the path to where he was pretty sure his dubious prize was hiding.

“Are you trying to get my brother into a bad mood?” he said loudly as he approached the biggest tree in the garden. For a moment there was no reply, and he began to wonder if his intuition has been wrong; then there was a rustle of leaves and a small, round object came hurtling out of the branches, barely missing his head, and instead landing on the ground with a soft _splat_. Koumei looked at the half-rotten fruit, and then back up into the tree with a scowl. “Dear wise and noble magi, I swear if you do that again I will climb up there and drag you out of those branches myself!”

There was a pause, then another rustle, and Koumei prepared to take evasive action, but instead of rotten peaches the only thing that came from the tree was a petulant voice.

“Leave me alone!”

Koumei rolled his eyes. Really, he had better things to do than go round chasing after stubborn kids, especially those who wielded enough power to potentially raze the entire palace if he decided to. Dealing with Judal had become akin to dealing with a semi-feral animal in recent weeks, and he was beginning to question Kouen’s decision to keep the magi around at such a difficult time. It was all but impossible to concentrate on work with the boy pouting his way around the palace, and he seemed to be the only person able to deal with him sensibly - Kouha riled Judal up so much they had needed to be separated for the good of everyone, which really hadn’t impressed his younger brother either, and being in Kouen’s company only made him petulant and stubborn. All in all, no-one was really happy with the current situation - and, as usual, he had been despatched to remedy the latest incident.

“Judal, please come down. You don’t need to go see En any more today, but I would like to see you,” he said, hoping he sounded earnest enough. 

“Don’t lie! You don’t want to see me! You don’t want anything from me!”

Koumei just about managed to resist bring a hand up to his forehead in frustration. “Please Judal. You can eat dinner in my room with me - I’m sure we can get some stewed peaches made for you.” For some reason the kid had taken to showing up at his door unannounced, choosing to sit on his bed to eat whatever he’d managed to pilfer from the kitchens while Koumei worked or read, usually in silence. It was slightly unnerving but at least it meant that they knew where he was for a few hours, and putting up with Judal annoying him for a few hours was a small price to pay.

There was a fleeting motion in the corner of his vision, and a second later the space was filled by a small body wearing a scowl that could probably kill lesser men. Koumei was always rather surprised that there wasn’t actually a visible cloud of hormones trailing around after the boy these days. Judal’s official robes of the Kou Empire Oracle were creased and dirty, and Koumei bit back a sigh when he saw a small tear in one of the sleeves. En would go crazy if he saw yet another set of robes damaged, but tactfully avoided mentioning it for the moment.

“Come on, you must be hungry,” he said as he held out a hand to Judal, who completely ignored him and started walking along the path to the main wing. Koumei rolled his eyes heavenwards and sent a silent prayer that this phase would pass quickly, then hurried along the path behind the boy as they headed to his own room.

...

The kitchen workers were nothing if not good at their jobs, and less than thirty minutes after getting to Koumei’s room there was a knock on the door and a young woman opened the door, glancing around the room nervously, eyes never quite alighting on what, at first glance, looked like a small pile of clothing thrown on the bed, obscured mostly by shadows from the dim lighting and curtains tied up to the posts at each corner of the bed.

“Ah, thank you. Just leave it there,” Koumei motioned to the small table by the door. The woman placed the steaming hot bowl on the table, visibly relieved that she didn’t have to engage with either of them, and left so quickly it was surprising that she didn’t leave marks on the floor.

“Have you now terrorized every member of the palace staff, Judal?” Koumei asked the pile on the bed as he walked over to the table to scoop up the aforementioned bowl and walk over to the bed, sitting down gently on top of the covers. Judal had managed to get rid of most of the clothes he had been wearing, leaving only a tight-fitting top and the knee-length trousers he had been wearing under his robes - which were strewn over the floor with usual abandon - and was currently curled up on his side with his back to everything.

“I don’t mean to,” Judal said, his voice so muffled by the blankets that Koumei almost had to ask him to repeat himself but stopped himself in time as he looked down at the boy curled up next to him with an expression that could be read as sympathy, and he bit back a sigh. 

“Here. You should eat these before I do.” He waved the bowl near Judal’s nose and gave a small smile as the boy quickly sat up.

“Gimmie!” Judal said, reaching out to the source of the sweet, spicy smell, and Koumei couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at his enthusiasm.

“Here.” Koumei pushed the bowl into outstretched hands. “Try not to eat it too quickly, you’ll give yourself stomach ache again and my sympathy is stretched thinly today.” Judal took it from him with surprising care and began eating, a look of pure contentment spreading across his face, and Koumei smiled.

“I need to get some work done so, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be at my desk.” He stood up and brushed off his own robes, tutting with faint annoyance at the dirt and peach juice that had stained them, and made his way to his desk at the far end of the room, so preoccupied with the work to be done that he almost missed it.

“ _Thanks._ ”

Koumei put his head down and smiled to himself as he pulled out the chair and made himself comfortable at his desk.

...

It was only when Koumei rubbed his eyes for the third time in less than a minute that he realised just how late it was. The lamp on the desk had burnt so low it was barely giving any light off. _No wonder I couldn’t see_ , he chided himself and winced as he stood up and stretched cramped muscles. With no idea what the time was - only that it was late - Koumei yawned as he made his way to the bed, shrugging off his outer robes and folded them on the back of the bedside chair. He pulled back the covers and jumped in surprise when he saw something there.

 _Of course. Judal_. He was surprised that he’d managed to forget the young magi was there - or rather, that he’d been allowed to forget. Usually he couldn’t concentrate for more than five minutes before he heard his voice being called in that familiar sing-song voice that he knew would be followed by an impossible request or difficult question. It annoyed him to no end, but he would rather have his work disturbed than have Judal spent more time than necessary with either of his brothers. What Kouen was doing with this kid wasn’t his business, but yet... He pushed any further thought out of his head, and slid down between the sheets, pulling a blanket over Judal’s slight frame. The movement caused the boy to stir, and he mumbled something intelligible before rolling over and borrowing into Koumei’s chest, who blinked in surprise and slowly tried to settle himself down under the covers and looked down into Judal’s sleeping face. Without the fierce red eyes glaring into him or a sharp insult coming from him, Judal looked almost innocent, and Koumei sighed. 

_For all the power that he holds, just now he’s still just a boy - but what will he become?_

...


End file.
